Ottawa Senators TIDBITS & QUICK HITS!

wprager wrote:Tough schedule for the Sens to start the season.  Back-to-back to open the season in Buffalo and Toronto (mind you, that's the only game against the Leafs where we're playing back-to-back), that a 4 game west coast swing before the home opener.  They could find themselves in a hole early if they don't come out prepared.

If they can get to .500 on that trip.. then that's good. That California trip is usually a brutal one.. glad they are getting it out of the way early. Gives the new players a chance to get to know their teammates a little better on the road...

SeawaySensFan wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Try to look at it on the flip side. Good chance for new teammates to build synergy with the team away from Ottawa. Often successful road trips lead to big momentum swings, and a 4-2 split would be very successful (and hopeful) in my mind. It will be all dependent on how Spezza and Ryan click, how Anderson rebounds from the Pitssburgh series, and it will be a very early test of Ottawa's secondary scoring. Looking forward to seeing MacArthur against the Leafs, and Ryan against Anaheim.

Not sure Ryan has a beef with Anaheim but I'd bet MacArthur does with Carlyle and the Dirty Leafs.

I think Ryan's "beef" could be that he got bumped from that top line and then dealt away. Before Getzlaf and Perry were signed everyone was saying how they couldn't keep both; certainly not all three. After Getzlaf was signed I think most people expected them to deal Perry and keep Ryan, but then when Perry was signed it was fairly clear that Ryan would be the odd man out. He played most of last season with that over his head. And even before that, he got bumped off the top line and was playing with Koivu as his center -- nothing against Saku, but at this stage in his career he is not exactly a top talent (and you can argue that he never was a top-line center).

He may not have a beef, but he probably wouldn't mind letting them know he thinks they made a mistake.

On the other hand, Silfverberg may be thinking along similar lines.

Sens schedule to start the year isn't "that bad". They start off with back to backs early which is just fine and they are the youngest team in the NHL so they should be able to handle that on a regular basis especially that early into the season. Going out 5 days later after being at home for a couple of days is just fine as well, gives them a chance to bond and get to know each other. It's the mid season where you want your home games to be or towards the end, if anything this is a perfect start to the season if they can go 500 or better which they should be fully capable of doing.

Hope you're right. They still have enough vets and a Jack Adams winner and finalist two years running behind the bench, so they *should not* come out flat. But I really hope they set the tone early in the BoO and get the W there. Then it's up to Bobby Ryan to show 'em how it's done out West. We'll see.

SeawaySensFan wrote:

DefenceWinsChampionships wrote:Try to look at it on the flip side. Good chance for new teammates to build synergy with the team away from Ottawa. Often successful road trips lead to big momentum swings, and a 4-2 split would be very successful (and hopeful) in my mind. It will be all dependent on how Spezza and Ryan click, how Anderson rebounds from the Pitssburgh series, and it will be a very early test of Ottawa's secondary scoring. Looking forward to seeing MacArthur against the Leafs, and Ryan against Anaheim.

Not sure Ryan has a beef with Anaheim but I'd bet MacArthur does with Carlyle and the Dirty Leafs.

Yeah, MacArthur definitely has a beef with Carlyle.

Wiercioch signed 3 years, no terms:
http://senators.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=678637

$2 million

Fire Murray!

Wow, putting a lot of faith into Wiercioch right there. PW better really work this off season because now the real pressure to perform is on. That said, this could end up being a steal if he does get first unit PP time and does well with it.

Yeah, my first reaction to Wiercioch's contract was..."Wow...the Murrays really trust this kid."

Ev wrote:$2 million

Fire Murray! I guess Prags was right.

FYP

GMHockey NHL re-alignment compliant. :D

This is gonna be a steal by season 2. Love this kid's skill set

where are you guys getting your numbers from?
i like that it's a 3 year.

Interesting. We definitely paid a price to get the third year. I would assume it broke down at 1.5, 2 and 2.5. That's good for year 3 to say the least.

Flo The Action wrote:where are you guys getting your numbers from?
i like that it's a 3 year.

Twitter.

Ev wrote:$2 million

Fire Murray!

That has to be a mistake. If not FIRE MURRAY!!!

NEELY wrote:Wow, putting a lot of faith into Wiercioch right there.  PW better really work this off season because now the real pressure to perform is on.  That said, this could end up being a steal if he does get first unit PP time and does well with it.

As I said before, he could put up #s close to Gonchar if he gets the same PP minutes. At the very least he will put up more points in the next 2 seasons than Gonchar did in his first 2 seasons for Ottawa. Bargain.

Oglethorpe wrote:

Ev wrote:$2 million

Fire Murray!

That has to be a mistake.  If not FIRE MURRAY!!!

Just wait till you see what he's handing out to Cowen.

So much for that $50M internal budget -- where did that come from, anyway? Just speculation or did one of Murray or Melnyk actually say that figure?

They are at $53,653,833 right now with 14 forwards and Cowen to sign. Assuming JOB is dealt for the proverbial bag of pucks (i.e. no salary coming back), and giving Cowen $3M, that puts them at just over $56M.